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Konami announced its financial results for its Q3 and the nine-month period ending December 31, 2009. The publisher's net revenues for the period were ¥190.9 billion, down 18.4% from the same period in 2008 -- despite breakout success in Japan with the DS dating sim Love Plus, "strong sales" of Dance Dance Revolution and "game content for overseas consumption, such as Saw."

What was missing from 2009 was, of course, the megahit Metal Gear Solid 4. "Due to the absence of major titles, such as last year's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, however," the publisher said in its financial results release (PDF), "the overall sales fell this quarter as compared to the same period the previous year." Should Konami succeed in releasing Peace Walker, 2010 should look a bit happier. We're still shocked to see one of the biggest game companies ever become this reliant on a single franchise.

Source: Consolidated Financial Results for the Nine Months Ended December 31, 2009 [PDF]

One poster at Hachimaki didn't keep us waiting at all for a custom 3D Dot Game Heroes version of Metal Gear Solid 4's Old Snake. The game isn't even officially released in Japan yet! But this artist got hold of a pre-street-dated copy and set immediately to work on an Old Snake avatar in the game's character editor.

Snake will have No Place to Hide in the wide-open, blocky expanses of 3D Dot Game Heroes' kingdom, but he'll presumably be able to compensate with a combination of Close Quarters Combat and Long Distance Swords. Update: See a video after the break.

[Via Andriasang]

The European budget line of "Platinum" titles has expanded quite significantly, adding four new titles for the low price of £19.99 / €29.99. The collection now includes Metal Gear Solid 4, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2 and Killzone 2.

We're a bit jealous of our European friends, as games rarely get the "Greatest Hits" label so soon. Killzone 2, for example, released just a little over six months ago. However, it makes sense to drop the price of these games, especially Killzone 2, so soon -- there are a lot of new PS3 owners out there, hungry to try out the system's greatest games.

Here's our big, greedy idea: Buy one of the 140 PlayStation 3 titles being offered in the current BestBuy.com deal for a lucky friend's future Christmas present, and get one for ourselves in the process for half the price! Dealzon spotted the sale we're selfishly taking advantage of over the weekend, which also offers free shipping until the end of Labor Day (that's tonight, folks!).

Thankfully, the deal offers more than just clearance titles -- last week's Guitar Hero 5 and system-selling Metal Gear Solid 4 are among a the handful of good stuff on the list (if you buy GH5, you could technically get a free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen as well, upping the value even more). According to the folks at Dealzon, the offer ends on Saturday, September 12, so you may want to get while the gettin's good.

[Via Dealzon]

There's only one thing some people want more than a brand new Metal Gear Solid game -- and that's a Trophy patch for Metal Gear Solid 4. Kojima Production's premiere PS3 game launched over a year ago, long before Sony required the addition of achievements to all games. The latest Kojima Productions podcast talked a little bit more about Trophies: "I just wanna tell everybody out there right now that your voices are being heard and that we're not ignoring you. We hear everything that you are saying. It's just that we can't say anything just yet. But as soon as we have something to say, we will announce it. So, if we can just ask everyone to be patient, we will give you an answer."

We're not exactly sure what's taking so long to announce whether or not the team is working on a patch. A one word answer -- a "yes" or "no" -- would certainly appease those that have been anxiously waiting.

[Via The Examiner]

Snake?! Snake?! SNAAAAAAAKE?! news now with Konami's financial results for its first quarter (which ended June 30, 2009) showing a notable decrease in revenue, both company-wide and within the video game sector. Edge reports that overall revenues sank 21 percent to $535 million, while sales accrued from video games dropped 50 percent to $103 million. A 45.1 percent slide in net revenues within the digital sector to $258.6 million was attributed to the gradual sales withdrawal of 2008's lucrative PlayStation 3 exclusive, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, as well as "changes in the economic environment."

Konami reportedly sold 2.96 million video games during the quarter, the majority of which were not Metal Gear Solid 4 and 860,000 of which were soccer games. The publisher plans to have a stronger showing during the second half of 2009, thanks to titles like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, the latest iteration of Pro Evolution Soccer and, of course, DDR Ultra Awesome Kick Mix 2010 EX Gyration Splendour Special (not an actual title). The future will arguably prove to be even more fortuitous, what with the bold decision to release a Metal Gear Solid game on more than one platform.

As per the deluge of tips we received regarding an 80GB PlayStation 3 bundle with Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, the Best Buy website is now reflecting the deal. The bundle retains the price of a regular ol' 80GB PS3 ($400), but will include both of the PS3 exclusive titles. Rumors surrounding the 80GB bundles suggest it's an effort to make space for an upcoming PS3 Slim on store shelves -- and considering the $90 worth of free games Sony is throwing at consumers, it's quite possible that shelf space will open for the next console iteration.

[Via Engadget]

Remember a couple weeks ago, when Ars Technica's trusty, eerily accurate "mole" prophesied that the 80GB PS3 would be ushered off store shelves in order to be replaced by the 160GB model, ultimately leading to the introduction of the oft-rumored PS3 slim? Remember when he (or she) said the 80GB model would have boosted sales thanks to the creation of new, attractive bundles? Did you notice the image above? Do you see where we're going with this?

One week after releasing an 80GB bundle containing Wall-E and LittleBigPlanet, Best Buy will supposedly be upping the ante with the package you see above, which includes Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. Said photo was sent in to Kotaku from a Best Buy employee, and several other Best Buyers have confirmed its legitimacy. We won't know for sure until the bundle hits store shelves, but it certainly looks like the ol' "mole" might have another notch in his accurate-prediction-belt.

Update: We've received confirmation from two Best Buy employees stating the bundle is real. One employee's store anticipates the bundle will go on sale within the next week (possibly on Sunday), while the other employee says the bundle is on sale in his store in Louisiana. They claim the price of the bundle is the standard $399 price point for the 80GB system. We recommend asking your local store if it's carrying the bundle, and finding out when it'll hit shelves! Thanks, guys!

We get pretty nervous when publishers start testing the waters with higher price points, so we like to think our sticker shock at seeing this $1,000 listing for Metal Gear Solid 4 is forgivable. But it is a pretty good game and we would like to have a second copy, just in case. Plus, there's only one left in stock!

But just as we were about the make the purchase, we noticed that shipping price. $7.99?! What, are we made of money?

[Thanks, Christopher]

Konami has a whole week of "surprises" lined up for the one-year anniversary of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots' release. So, surprise: Metal Gear Online has received an unlikely update in the form of bikini-clad babes. Rather than draw form the series' pool of female characters, the pack lets players roll their own originals, complete with sultry -- even scandalous! -- "taunts."

The DLC is free for players who already have the GENE expansion pack purchased and installed. No amount of money will get your dignity back after friends catch you testing the ladies' over-the-top "jiggle simulation." (Or simply watching the video of others doing it after the break.)

Despite stating that he would be more hands-off with the Metal Gear Solid games after the fourth installment, Kojima has decided to once again roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Speaking with Japanese mag Famitsu (via PSPHyper), the gaming icon has said that Peace Walker will pretty much be his MGS5 -- something that will likely be excellent news to every Genome soldier reading this very post -- and that the MGS4 team will be working on it. (For some new Peace Walker screens, fresh out of Kojima Productions, check out our gallery embedded below).

Moving on to Metal Gear Solid Rising, Kojima says the game will include "a completely different kind of action than what has appeared in the series so far," though we're not sure if that's a good or bad thing. He also mentioned that he will be involved with the project "more deeply" than a normal producer which, considering the expectations and the new engine involved, makes sense.

The implicit bad news here: With all this Metal Gear stuff taking up Kojima's time (not to mention Castlevania: Lords of Shadow), we're unlikely to see that rumored Snatcher and/or Zone of the Enders and/or Something Else title anytime soon.

Source - Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker details
Source - Kojima discusses Metal Gear Solid Rising [via Eurogamer]